Fasting is an age-old practice, often followed for religious practices.
However, recently people have started fasting for weight loss purposes too.
There are many types of fasting including intermittent fasting getting popular with people who want to lose weight.
But is fasting actually good for weight loss?
It’s definitely a debatable topic as researchers have come up with many dangers as well as benefits of fasting.
Hence, the following blog brings out both sides of fasting.
Compare the pros and cons to understand whether fasting is good for your weight loss or not.
But before we enumerate the benefits and harms of fasting side by side, let us understand what fasting actually is.
Weight Loss and Fasting
It’s quite important to understand what fasting actually is before planning out How to fast to lose weight.
Many people have different opinions about fasting.
The true meaning of fasting is either cutting out complete calorie intake or limiting it for a specific duration.
There are many types of fasting as well, including “intermittent fasting”.
This type of fasting involves eating on most of the days but fasting periodically.
For example, you eat three meals a day for a week and then fast for two days.
There are certain diets, which promote fasting for weight loss.
They allow certain foods in your diet while limiting the calories to fewer than 800 a day.
For example, one such diet is the cabbage soup diet popular for promoting weight loss.
In such a diet plan, you just have cabbage soup with water for a specific duration of time.
However, such diets which ask you to fast mostly have claims of unbelievable results and they usually fail to yield them.
Getting back to the question, “Is fasting a good way to lose weight”, it is important to know how fasting works to make any final statements.
Fasting for Weight Loss – How Does Fasting Work?
Fasting involves limiting dietary intake!
When the dietary intake is restricted, the body’s energy intake stops.
To compensate for this energy loss, the body must use up the stored energy reserves for metabolic activities.
Moreover, in the non-fasting stage, the body uses glucose for energy.
But when carbs intake is stopped during fasting, the body switches from glucose to the ketosis process for fuelling the body.
Ketosis is basically burning the stored fat and converting it into energy for fuelling metabolic activities.
This reduces fat levels and body weight.
Apart from this, during fasting, your inflammatory markers go down!
This causes healthy regulation of cholesterol, glucose, insulin, and other hormonal levels.
Altogether, your metabolism improves.
However, people often confuse fasting with starvation.
These two are entirely different conditions. Starvation is a chronic nutritional deficiency while fasting is limiting calories.
When people fast for weight loss goals, they work to burn up the excess reserves.
Hence, there are many benefits of fasting for weight loss.
The following section highlights some of these benefits!
Benefits of Fasting – How is Fasting Good for Fat Loss?
The first google answer to the question, “how to lose weight with fast naturally” often comes out to be intermittent fasting.
But ever wondered how fasting can be beneficial for your weight loss?
Well, let us tell you how!
Studies show that following healthy fasting plans like intermittent fasting or alternate-day fasting work pretty well for weight loss.
Few recent studies that claimed almost similar results are:
- A study on non-obese individuals following alternate-day fasting showed an increase in fat oxidation and weight loss.
- A study on obese patients showed that alternate-day fasting was effective in losing weight.
- In young overweight women, alternate-day fasting was effective for weight loss.
Hence, we can clearly say that fasting is effective in weight loss.
But does fasting work only through calorie restrictions?
No, there is much more to fasting than just cutting back on calories.
It has got many more benefits that work in favor of making you lose weight. Have a look below:
#1. Secretion of Growth Hormones
According to a study conducted for 5 days among men on fasting, GH levels were higher when observed on the first and fifth day.
A later study conducted for two days showed that fasting increased both intensity and frequency of GH secretion in men.
A more recent study established that 24-hour fasts can increase GH by 1300% in women and 2000% in men.
#2. It Decreases Insulin Secretion
Insulin inhibits lipolysis which is the release of stored triglycerides.
Without lipolysis, your body will not be able to break down fat to release energy.
Hence, during fasting, insulin decreases, causing an increase in lipolysis.
It is because of this decrease in insulin that fasting becomes useful for weight loss.
#3. Fasting Increases Insulin Sensitivity
20-hour fasts are enough to enhance insulin sensitivity in men.
Hence, fasting is not just good for weight loss but also offers other health benefits.
#4. It Increases the Levels of Catecholamines
Fasting brings a boost in the secretion of both adrenaline and noradrenaline.
These catecholamines boost energy expenditure while fasting. They do so by burning excess fat.
They activate the enzyme lipase, which stimulates the fat burning process of your body.
Looking at all the above benefits, we can see that all of them contribute to burning fat.
Hence, fasting aids in a faster fat loss to give you the perfect shape that you want.
However, not all fasting techniques work the same way.
Thus, it’s important to follow the right fasting plan.
The following section highlights one such fasting plan that has scientific studies backing its weight loss results.
Which Type of Fasting is Best for Weight Loss – Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that has gained a lot of popularity in the last few years.
Unlike various other diet plans and eating plans, it does not focus on what you eat, rather focuses on when you eat.
However, people have different opinions about this fasting technique.
Some believe that the 16:8 fasting weight loss results are safe and impressive, while others disagree with this!
But, here in this section, we will tell you all about how intermittent fasting is good for losing weight!
Intermittent Fasting – What Is It All About?
This type of fasting involves cycling periods of eating and fasting.
There are various types of intermittent cycles that people follow, such as 5:2 fasting and 16/8 fasting.
But the best intermittent fasting for weight loss out of these two is the 16/8 fasting.
In this pattern, people fast for 16 hours and take food only for 8 hours a day.
Other types of intermittent fasting involve fasting for 24 hours once or twice a week, which focuses on cutting calories for a few days and then eating normally on other days.
Though people follow intermittent fasting mainly for weight loss, it has many more health benefits.
Fasting and Weight Loss – Why is Intermittent Fasting Good for Weight Loss?
Several studies claim that intermittent fasting boosts weight loss through various mechanisms.
As it involves restricting calories, it eventually leads to a decrease in your calorie intake with time.
It also increases norepinephrine levels, which is a hormone that boosts metabolism and increases your ability to burn calories.
Furthermore, fasting helps reduce insulin levels, promoting lipolysis and fat burn.
This promotes weight loss.
In fact, some researchers also claim that intermittent fasting helps in retaining lean muscle mass.
A review found intermittent fasting to have the ability to reduce body weight by up to 8% and body fat by 16% in just 3-12 weeks.
Altogether, the intermittent fasting weight loss results are quite impressive and worth noting.
However, many people might also raise questions like, “how long does it take for 16/8 intermittent fasting to work”.
For all such questions, we would like to highlight the fact that results usually vary from person to person.
It will take time for it to show results; however, you can boost up the Intermittent fasting benefits by coupling it with the keto diet.
Some of the intermittent fasting benefits apart from weight loss include:
- Better heart health
- Good control over blood sugar level
- Decreases inflammation
- Protects cognitive functions
- Boosts human growth hormone
Hence, intermittent fasting is not just good for weight loss but also for your health.
However, many experts also believe that fasting the wrong way can also pose some serious threats to your body.
Some of these risk factors are given below.
Risk Factors of Fasting – When It is Not Good for Weight Loss!
Fasting is an effective way to lose weight according to many researchers and studies.
However, experts don’t suggest fasting for long periods of time as this could lead to the following risks to your health:
- Electrolyte abnormalities
- Heart arrhythmias
- Feeling dizzy or fainting
- Dehydration
- Stones in the gallbladder
- Muscle loss
- Slow metabolic rate
- Constipation
- Cold intolerance
- Drops and sudden surges in blood sugar
Apart from this, fasting is not healthy for everyone. Certain individuals should not indulge in fasting.
Hence, avoid fasting for weight loss if you are:
- Pregnant
- Breastfeeding
- Have diabetes
- Have children
- An elderly person
- Suffering from a chronic disease
We suggest you not indulge in fasting in any way in these cases as it could cause serious problems to your health.
Moreover, people who are fasting should also fast correctly to stay healthy.
The following section shares some valuable healthy habits for people who want to fast to lose weight.
Fasting Guide – How to Fast to Lose Weight Safely?
With many people asking, “is intermittent fasting good for fat loss”, it becomes important to mark out some important points.
Yes! Intermittent fasting or any type of fasting is a good way to lose weight, but only if you follow healthy practices.
The best way to lose weight safely is to change your lifestyle.
Bring along the following changes in your lifestyle when fasting for weight loss:
#1. The Right Exercises and Diet
While fasting, make sure that you have a healthy diet and you eat fat-burning foods on your eating days and follow effective exercises in the right postures.
Choose the type of exercises you want to do.
You can even go for walks if that sounds easy to you.
#2. Drink Enough Water
Drink enough water on days of fasting as well as eating. If it’s difficult to drink plain water, go for some amazing mixes made with healthy fruits and veggies.
Stay away from flavored drinks or soda, though.
#3. Eat Lots of Fresh Fruits and Veggies
Make sure your diet contains fresh fruits and veggies. Leafy veggies are a good option for a healthy start.
Veggies ensure that you get healthy nutrients with optimum calories and less fat.
#4. Go for Lean Proteins
Proteins are essential for your diet, but some proteins are not as beneficial as you want them to be.
If you are a non-vegetarian, go for white meat poultry, fish, nuts, and low-fat dairy.
Eggs are also good sources of lean protein but they contain fat and cholesterol too.
#5. Stick to Whole Grains
Choose whole-grain when you want to go for pasta and bread.
Moreover, you can choose oats as it serves as a healthy option.
Stay away from white bread and try eating complex carbs for a healthy weight loss.
FAQs
Let’s review some of the most-asked questions before you jump-start your fasting routine for weight loss!
Bringing It All Together
Is intermittent fasting a good way to lose weight? Or is dry fasting good for weight loss?
With so many types of fasting patterns getting popular these days, it becomes difficult for people to choose the right plan for effective weight loss.
Moreover, with constant debate over whether fasting is good for weight loss or is it unhealthy, fasting remains a mystery.
But with the right knowledge, you can make use of fasting for desired weight loss results without risking your health in the process.
The fact is that only certain types of fasting actually work and are safe to follow.
Any healthy weight loss fasting programs often involve limiting calories and not just starving off.
These methods help your body get enough calories it needs to work normally.
Thus, choose your fasting plan wisely and cautiously.